Weeki Wachee

 

October 12, 2021

Weeki Wachee

It is a rare thing for Kathy and I to be visiting a place and to out to eat at the same place multiple times during a visit. We prefer to experience as many different places as possible as a general rule, but there is the rare occurrence when we like a meal so much that we feel compelled to return again, and that happened during our stay in Crystal River, where we went out to the Crab Plant restaurant twice.

It was one of the best seafood restaurants we have visited in a long time, it doesn’t look like all that located at the end of 5^th Street right on the water at Kings Bay, but the food and service was outstanding. One of the many highlights of our two-night stay in Crystal River. 

After leaving Crystal River, we drove south down the coast and made a spur of the moment decision to stop in Tarpon Springs again to have lunch at one of the many Greek restaurants there. We had been in Tarpon Springs earlier this summer to visit a friend who lives there, and we really liked it, so driving by we wanted to stop and have a great Greek meal. The gulfside city has a huge Greek population as it was settled by large numbers of Greeks who came in the 1890s to become Spongers as sponging is what the area is best known for.

The Greek influence remains strong here as does the sponging industry, which is still active. The waterfront has any number of Greek restaurants, bakeries and other businesses as well as the sponge sellers and touristy shops. It is a cool and quaint place and the delightful Greek influence is really cool and the food is terrific.

 

Kathy and I walked the waterfront area briefly, exploring the shops and getting some dessert at one of the bakeries before hitting the road south again for our afternoon destination, the mermaid show at Weeki Wachee State Park.

Weeki Wachee has been a tourist attraction in Florida since 1947 when stunt performer Newt Perry had the idea to create a natural attraction at the Weeki Wachee springs. He built a theater that was actually embedded in the lime rock next to the spring where visitors would watch “mermaids” , women wearing fish tails as well as other fanciful outfits as they performed with the assistance of breathing tubes.

It was a hit and today the attraction remains, very much unchanged for the most part after literally millions of people have watched the shows spanning generations. Neither Kathy or I had ever experienced it and we both wanted to check it out, both due to its historical significance as an early Florida tourist attraction but for the hip kitschy experience that it is.

After taking in the show itself, which was a fun retelling of “The Little Mermaid” story, we took time to look around the remainder of the state park, which features a swimming area, waterslides and a few boat rides to entertain guests, but it is the mermaid show that is the draw and we were happy to be able to stop and see it.

The last portion of our trip included one of my favorite Florida drives, across the Everglades on US 41 from Naples to Florida City. It is a scenic, fun road that cuts across some of the most beautiful natural areas in South Florida, including the Big Cypress Nature Reserve as well as the Everglades. It has some fun, interesting stuff along the road that we enjoy stopping to see aswell.

The smallest post office in America can be found there as the Ochopee Post Office is located along the road in a tiny shed. The building used to be a storage facility for irrigation pipes of an adjacent tomato farm. It was converted into a post office in 1953, after a fire destroyed Ochopee's previous post office, located in the Gaunt Company Store. The post office is fully functional, serving a three-county area, including the surrounding populations of Miccosukee and Seminole Native Americans.

Just down the road is another favorite stop, the Skunk Ape Research Center. Certainly the only facility in the world dedicated to the study (and promotion) of the Skunk Ape, the South Florida version of the legendary Bigfoot, the research center is located in the office of a campground and is one of those strange roadside attractions that I just love top stop and see. 

http://www.crabplant.com/